Pregnant women might not feel like doing much cooking. It’s so easy to pull through a fast food drive-in window and pick up something, but it might not be best for you and your baby. Unfortunately, pregnancy and fast foods don’t mix well.

The same problems with nutrition that exist for fast food consumption for anyone are magnified for pregnant women.

Weight gain, gestational diabetes, swelling and high blood pressure are significant risks for women who are pregnant. These risks are worse for both young (under 20) pregnant women and women who are over 35, though all pregnant women experience these risks, which could be deadly. They are also all connected to whatever you eat.

Eating Fast foods while pregnant can complicate pregnancy. The big risk that many people don’t recognize is too much sodium and salt. Most fast food meats are soaked and/or injected with salt before cooking. The sodium load can be very dangerous for pregnant women regardless of age. Here are some places to look.

1. Fast foods and convenience foods are typically loaded with salt.
2. Many “diet” foods may have a lot of salt. The weight gain might be a bit alarming, but it’s not the time to diet.
3. Cured meats like bacon and sausage also tend to have a lot of salt.
4. Many salad dressings you buy both in restaurants and at the grocery may have a lot of salt.
5. Many sauces in restaurants and in packaged and convenience foods may be loaded with salt.
6. Some fast food SALADS may contain a large amount of salt even before you add salad dressing.

Additionally, fast foods and convenience foods also tend to have lots of fat, sugar and strange chemicals that won’t do anything good for you or your baby.

It’s safer to prepare everything you eat at home with basic food ingredients. Go easy on fats, salt, and sugar to give you and your baby the best in food and the good nutrition essential for the best outcomes we all want.

Check with your doctor for food lists and guidelines about healthy eating. Take your prescribed vitamins and stay out of fast food places. Many local Health Departments can give you good data on dietary guidelines for pregnancy, too, as well as food assistance for eligible women. You might want to check out my post on fertility and the environment. While it’s focus is on increasing fertility, many of the points apply for women already pregnant.

Many people, both men and women are struggling with infertility, many more than in the past. While medical authorities and the FDA have been unwilling to say exactly why this might be occurring, it’s likely that environmental issues are impacting fertility in many people. It’s obviously a huge problem since we see a huge number of searches for people trying to increase fertility.

Regarding fertility and the environment or maybe I should say infertility and the environment, there are 4 easily available issues in the environment that could affect on your fertility.

1. Pesticides have 2 ways that they might lower your fertility. Some are nerve toxins that sometimes kill pests quickly. Some of these chemicals use a delivery system that imitates estrogen in the natural world. Bugs and vermin become infertile and do not multiply as fast. Both types can have unpredictable effects on people who come into contact with them. This type of chemical can have impacts on both female and male fertility in humans, too. Pesticides and fertility don’t mix.

2. Herbicides are used to control weeds in crops and can be absorbed through foods and direct contact with the toxins themselves. While these chemicals have been deemed safe by the FDA, they can still impact human health and fertility and also can be fatal to humans who are exposed to large quantities. Herbicides and fertility aren’t in any way meant to mix.

3. Hormones, especially estrogen that is given to farm animals to make them gain weight more quickly, also makes humans gain weight and may also have negative effects on both male and female fertility. Overweight mothers have more problems with becoming pregnant, gestation and delivery. Overweight men also experience lower fertility and libido because of overexposure to estrogen in foods.

4. Other environmental chemicals and toxins also have detrimental effects on fertility that have not been investigated by either the FDA or the EPA because of opposition from large businesses. One is a chemical that is in many plastics commonly called BPH, which adversely effects fertility in both men and women and plugs itself into estrogen receptors in the human body.

Other risks also exist in our lives. We are giving you a list so you don’t get taken by surprise…maybe. If you have been unwise…and who hasn’t…make sure you have some candid conversations with your doctor and that you get better at taking care of yourself. We are just going to give you the facts without getting into morality or a lecture on religion.

This is just about guarding your fertility and in particular, the effects from the environment on your fertility. If you do a good job of guarding fertility, you probably won’t find yourself one day trying to increase your fertility.

1. People become sexually active as teens without really being aware of the risks. These days as many as a quarter of teens have active STD’s. They are not thinking. They are just doing and they are not getting medical care. It’s worse than nursery schools as a germ exchange.

2. Try to avoid being exposed to chemicals and pesticides. Both men and women’s fertility are at risk from exposure to environmental hazards. For women, these chemicals can seriously affect getting pregnant. Even if you don’t want to get pregnant, I would avoid them as they could very well be a cause of cancer.

3. Drugs may cause problems, too. Some designer drugs destroy your body from the inside, out, and certainly could be one of the causes of infertility.

4. Animals that are fed hormones (estrogen) to increase weight and increase milk production are having two effects on fertility. They are making lots of PEOPLE fat, too. Additionally men are getting unhealthy amounts of a feminine hormone. It’s not great for sperm production. Does your son have breasts?

5. Women who want to have a family are frequently not told during their sex educations that the more partners they have the more they may risk damage to their fertility. It’s especially risky for women because they have what is called an “open system” that is designed to take in sperm and carry a pregnancy. This open system also makes most STD’s more dangerous to women than to the closed systems men have, though they can become quite ill or even infertile, too.

6. Find out what your blood type is as soon as you can. It matters in child bearing, especially if a woman is Rh. Negative, as in O- or all the other negative blood types. One miscarriage could spell disaster if you have a fetus that is a different blood type. A woman might never have a child in this scenario if she fails to get a shot to prevent her from producing antibodies against her next baby, resulting in miscarriage.

7. One of the most common causes of infertility in women is pelvic inflammatory disease, usually caused by STD’s, though something like a burst appendix or intestinal blockage could also cause it.

8. Nutrition is also important to people who wish to have a family. Ask anyone who breeds and raises livestock. You want to start healthy and stay healthy during gestation and birth. The right diet can have a huge effect on getting pregnant. Learn more at diet and getting pregnant.

9. Obesity causes many problems in pregnancy and delivery. Heavy women are more likely to have problems with high blood pressure, diabetes, and even fertility and hormones. It’s a problem for men, too.

10. Being either too young or too old causes problems and carries risks of which people may be unaware.

11. Poor quality diets cause problems, too. It’s one of the complications that very young mothers frequently have. Only one of their problems is that they are not fully grown and they cannot give birth without medical intervention in the form of c-sections

Basically what we are trying to say is to be aware of the possible relationship between fertility and the environment if you really want children some day. So pay close attention to what’s in your environment that might effect fertility so as to guard your fertility whether you are trying to get pregnant or may want or may want to have children in the future. Guarding your fertility is key in today’s toxin laced world.

The kidneys are the organ in the body that filters waste, toxins, and excess fluids from the blood. The kidneys perform an essential function for your overall health. When the kidneys fail, substances that are harmful can build up in the body and that can cause high blood pressure and other health problems. In the case of kidney failure, there must be a replacement to perform the kidney’s activities. That is what kidney dialysis is for. Kidney dialysis is a treatment that uses a machine to filter waste and harmful liquids from the blood. Dialysis does many of the crucial functions that the kidney does. People who have kidney failure depend on dialysis to restore the blood to a normal balance. Many elderly people suffer from kidney failure and therefore need dialysis. There can be quite a few dialysis side effects in the elderly that can result in serious health problems. However, if the dialysis is performed correctly, then side effects should be lessened.

The kidney dialysis side effects in the elderly can be very mild or they can be quite severe depending on the situation. The side effects depend on the condition of the patient and whether they are following the appropriate diet or not. The side effects usually aren’t that severe if the patient carefully follows all of their doctor’s advice and orders.

One of the most common dialysis side effects is infection. Dialysis requires a tube called a catheter which is inserted internally and externally to allow the dialysis solution to go in and out of the body. The process of draining, filling and dwelling the solution must be done with utmost care as bacteria can enter the body, and there is a risk of infection both inside and outside of the body. The exchange can be done up to four or five times a day, so this increases the chance of infection. When handling the catheter, sterile gloves should be worn and hand washing should be done regularly. The exchange should also be done in a clean area. Also, an antibiotic solution should be applied to the catheter before inserting.

Hernia is another one of the kidney dialysis side effects in the elderly. The internal muscle walls hold the organs in place. With the insertion of a catheter, these walls may weaken. The pressure from the dialysis solution can further push these muscles and cause a turn, causing the organs to come out through the opening. In the case of hernia, the patients should take care to not exert themselves. Bloating and weight gain is another of the dialysis side effects in older people. The fluid solution can cause bloating and weight gain. Some patients may have trouble eating because of the dialysis solution causing a bloating feeling.

To lessen the side effects from dialysis, the patient should be made to follow the proper diet and fluid restrictions as instructed by their health care professional. All handling of the catheter and fluid bags should also be done in a sanitary manner. As long proper care is done, most dialysis side effects can be avoided.

Relationship Issues – All relationships have problems or issues that cause conflict between couples. After all, ALL of us want our own way in all things. If we don’t get our way we pout, or shout or worse often creating more relationship issues.

It’s the way of love and relationships.

One of the most difficult things for us to do is to reach an understanding and a balance in our lives that also allows us to maintain long-term relationships.

You might find some less than satisfying comfort with another lover, but still feel disappointed and unhappy and guilty, too. Before you choose this deal breaker, do something more productive.

In terms of romance it’s worth the effort to learn to resolve relationship conflicts and move on with a better understanding of each others’ needs and wishes.

Relationship Problems

There are several strategies that can help you win through to this kind of intimate understanding for solving relationship issues.

1. Figure out what the problem really is. I know this is tough relationship advice but you have to be really honest with YOURSELF. It’s one of the most difficult things any of us must learn.

2. Tell your love what you view as a problem and why. Just say it. Don’t ask them to guess. If you wait for that one, some lawyer will probably be making money from your issues shortly.

3. Stick to the current issue and try not to get real emotional. What happened yesterday or last year is over.

4. Say how you feel with openness and honesty. It might help to take a walk together. Don’t say, “We have to talk”, if you don’t plan to speak calmly and openly.

5. You may learn things you don’t know. It may or may not surprise you, but listen and pay attention. Listening is a critical element in love and relationships.

We all have rights to our feelings. Many times couples will discover that they are already closer in their concerns than they expect. You may be cranky because of exhaustion or worry. Your lover may also have the same problem.

At least some of the time the real issue in your conflict is something that is happening in your life that is outside of your central relationship, but that is impacting your life negatively. Think of illness or unemployment. Another relationship issue might be financial worries. Money problems in a relationship is one of the most common issues in a relationship.

You may be feeling neglected when your partner is just trying to make an employer feel they are indispensable.

All of these may make you dissatisfied and unhappy. Make changes if you can. You don’t have to do what you have been doing if it’s not making you both happy.

Freedom and passion together involve making your life what you want it to be, which is critical for successful relationships. Go for it!

As you can imagine, relationship advice for men is different than relationship advice for women. This post on relationship advice for men is about the most important element of a good relationship, communication.

Communication in a relationship is very important. The best couples always communicate better and more positively than the bad ones do. A listening attitude always helps. Also, communications with a woman is critical to understanding women.

For better communication in a relationship it’s always a good thing to simply come out with whatever it is that you want from the other person or what you want your life to be to feel fulfilled. But women want to talk things out of their system and men don’t want to listen until they are done talking. Men tend to be more pragmatic and goal oriented.

Guess what? You don’t have to solve the problem necessarily. Here’s a hint. Let them talk and listen.

How can you do this?

It’s not so difficult. Here are some ideas, ones we have used ourselves to help make a better relationship.

1. Think about what you want in your life and write it down. You make lists for other things. Why not for this, too? Any couple can do this. You have to understand your own heart before you can communicate how you feel and what you want.

2. Compare lists. How well do your lists match up? Compatibility doesn’t require that you be identical, just that you can adapt to each other and with each other. Knowledge is power in relationships just as it is in anything else.

3. Give each other some respect and personal freedom. Many of us are pleasantly surprised to find that being with someone offers us more personal freedom than we expected.

4. Remember things always change. Be ready to adapt to change. Do it together or you will end up being torn apart. Changing conditions in life are the norm. Be ready to adjust and support each other both emotionally and materially.

5. Is the initial excitement you felt together fading? Get it back by making more love time for each other.

Remember, you have to understand yourself before you can communicate your needs and wants to someone else. Analyze your own heart and seek the wishes of your lover with openness and true interest. While many of our posts don’t specify that they include relationship advice for men but check them out. Most include advice for men in a relationship.